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Angels Activate Andrelton Simmons, Designate Wilfredo Tovar

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The Angels announced today that star shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been activated from the injured list. He is returning from a long absence due to a severe ankle sprain.

Infielder Wilfredo Tovar was designated for assignment to create roster space. In other news, the club officially placed Griffin Canning on the injured list — he was declared out for the season yesterday — while recalling southpaw Jose Suarez.

It’s all but certainly too little, too late for the sinking Halos. But it’s still good to see Simmons return to action. The peerless defensive aficionado hadn’t been hitting quite as well as he did in his prior two campaigns, but will now have a chance to get back on track before the season wraps up.

Tovar, 28, received his lengthiest stint in the majors this year for the Angels. Through 88 plate appearances in 31 games, he managed only a .193/.239/.253 slash line.

Latest On Keynan Middleton, Andrelton Simmons

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  • Angels righty Keynan Middleton is nearing a return to their bullpen, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Middleton hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2018, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, and has dealt with multiple setbacks during his recovery process. Just last month, mild ulnar neuritis forced Middleton to temporarily shut down his rehab. When healthy from 2017-18, Middleton looked like a potential building block for the Halos’ bullpen. The hard-throwing 24-year-old owns a 3.43 ERA/4.24 FIP with 9.36 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 76 major league innings.
  • Angels righty Keynan Middleton is nearing a return to their bullpen, Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Middleton hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2018, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, and has dealt with multiple setbacks during his recovery process. Just last month, mild ulnar neuritis forced Middleton to temporarily shut down his rehab. When healthy from 2017-18, Middleton looked like a potential building block for the Halos’ bullpen. The hard-throwing 24-year-old owns a 3.43 ERA/4.24 FIP with 9.36 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 76 major league innings.
  • Meanwhile, injured Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons could rejoin the club for its weekend series in Houston, though he’s not a lock to be activated then, Torres reports. A left ankle sprain and a bone bruise have prevented Simmons from playing since Aug. 2. He also missed a little over a month earlier this season with a sprain in that ankle, but the nature of the injury isn’t the same this time. While Simmons was durable from 2017-18 – arguably the two best offensive seasons of the defensive master’s career – his production at the plate has gone backward during this injury-plagued year. Simmons will try to improve on the .274/.315/.382 line he has put up across 305 PA when he returns.

Angels Outright Adalberto Mejia

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The Angels announced that they’ve outrighted left-hander Adalberto Mejia to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers. Mejia hasn’t been outrighted in the past, nor does he have the service time to reject an assignment in favor of free agency, so he’ll stay in the organization.

This has been a wild season for Mejia, a member of the Twins, Angels (twice) and Cardinals in 2019. The Angels designated the former top 100 prospect for assignment Wednesday after his major league struggles continued in his second go-around in their uniform. The 26-year-old has thrown 7 1/3 innings of six-run (five earned) ball in a Halos uniform this season.

Since he debuted in the majors in 2016, Mejia has pitched to a 4.79 ERA/4.64 FIP across 148 1/3 innings (51 appearances, 25 starts). Mejia has logged 7.58 K/9, 4.31 BB/9 and a 36.3 percent groundball rate in that span.

Angels Shut Down Griffin Canning For Remainder Of Season

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The Angels announced today that they have shut down rookie right-hander Griffin Canning. He’s said to be dealing with mild inflammation in his right elbow.

That general diagnosis was already known. Canning was placed on the injured list yesterday. What wasn’t clear then is the newly announced course of action, which is obviously intended to avoid any further problems down the stretch.

The team did not expressly specify in its announcement whether there is any concern regarding underlying structural issues. But some reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link), have suggested that’s the appropriate interpretation of the comment. If so, that’s rather promising news for an important organizational asset.

Regardless, it’s a disappointing and all-too-familiar way for the season to end for a Halos hurler. The club has endured a seemingly endless array of injuries to starters in recent seasons.

Canning won’t wrap things up as hoped, but he still turned in an impressive initial showing. After three outstanding starts at Triple-A, he worked to a 4.58 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 90 1/3 MLB innings. Canning proved he can induce whiffs in the majors, sporting a 13.8% swinging-strike rate, and seems likely to be a quality and cost-controlled big league starter for years to come — so long as he can stay healthy.

Angels Place Griffin Canning On IL With Elbow Inflammation

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TODAY: The Angels announced that left-hander Jose Suarez will be recalled from Triple-A to start Friday’s game against the Astros.

YESTERDAY: The Angels have placed right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. It’s the same issue that landed the 23-year-old rookie on the injured list in early August.

As Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times notes, manager Brad Ausmus was unable to say whether the latest injury would mark the end of Canning’s season. The Angels skipper went on to characterize the injury as only “mild inflammation,” telling reporters (including Fletcher) that there are “no concerns that it’s anything more than inflammation.”

Amid a frustrating season for the Angels, Canning has been one of the few bright spots, especially in a pitching staff that has endured more than its fair share of injuries. Despite debuting at the end of April, Canning leads the team in games started, pitching 90 1/3 innings in the Majors. He’s worked to 4.58 ERA while striking out 96 batters—while his numbers aren’t stellar, Canning offers considerable value to a team, and at just 23, there’s certainly room for more here.

Per Torres, Canning will undergo an MRI after returning to Los Angeles. Indeed, it may be wise for the Angels to exercise caution with their promising youngster. With their playoff hopes all but erased, there’s a case to be made that Canning should be shut down in hopes of preventing any further injury to his throwing elbow. Ausmus and general manager Billy Eppler have been careful to manage Canning’s workload in his debut season: he’s approaching the 113 1/3 inning mark he totaled last season.

Angels Designate Adalberto Mejia For Assignment

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Prior to yesterday’s double-header with the Rangers, the Angels designated left-hander Adalberto Mejia for assignment.  Righty Jaime Barria was called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move, and Barria tossed five innings while starting the nightcap (a 3-2 Angels loss in 11 innings).

The DFA continues what has been a whirlwind of transactional business for Mejia over the last six weeks.  This is the fourth time Mejia has been designated in that stretch, and the second as a member of the Angels.  The team claimed him after an initial designation from the Twins, DFA’ed Mejia and then lost him on a claim from the Cardinals, and then the Angels re-claimed Mejia after St. Louis designated the southpaw.

Through it all, Mejia hasn’t pitched very well in 2019, with a cumulative 8.06 ERA over 25 2/3 innings for the Angels, Cardinals, and Twins.  A high walk rate (6.0 BB/9) and homer rate (1.4 HR/9) have contributed to his issues, and Mejia also spent over two months on the Twins’ injured list while recovering from a calf strain.

Angels Select Miguel Del Pozo’s Contract, Option Jose Suarez To Triple-A

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Prior to Sunday’s game, the Angels selected the contract of left-hander Miguel Del Pozo from Triple-A.  Fellow left-hander Jose Suarez was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Del Pozo didn’t pitch in the Angels’ 9-2 victory over the White Sox, so he is still looking for his first official Major League appearance.

Originally signed as an 18-year-old prospect by the Marlins in 2010, Del Pozo spent his entire pro career in Miami’s organization until last offseason, when he was outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster and he chose to become a free agent.  After signing a minors contract with the Rangers, Del Pozo was dealt to Los Angeles earlier this month in a post-deadline trade (allowed since Del Pozo wasn’t on a Major League contract).

Despite his long stretch in the minors, Del Pozo didn’t even pitch at the Triple-A level until this season.  The 26-year-old lefty has a 4.28 ERA, 10.4 K/9, and 2.53 K/BB rate over 332 minor league innings, working out of the bullpen for 191 of his 207 career games.  Del Pozo will join Adalberto Mejia as the only left-handers in the Halos’ righty-heavy pen.

Suarez’s first taste of Major League action wasn’t a smooth one, as the rookie southpaw posted a 6.75 ERA over 53 1/3 innings, starting 11 of his 12 games.  While Suarez managed an 8.9 K/9 and a respectable 2.41 K/BB rate, he was bedeviled by home runs, as Suarez allowed 16 big flies in his brief time in the Los Angeles rotation.

Fangraphs (79th) and Baseball America (97th) each ranked Suarez within their list of the game’s top 100 prospects at the time of his promotion in late May, so his rocky start was something of a letdown for an Angels team that is starved for pitching.  Still, Suarez is only 21 years old and only in his fifth season in pro ball.  His issues may have also stemmed not from inexperience, but from a tendency to tip pitches, manager Brad Ausmus told media (including Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times).

Angels Not Planning To Call Up Jo Adell

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  • There’s more clarity on a heralded youngster on Los Angeles’ other team, as the Angels currently aren’t planning to call Jo Adell up for his first taste of MLB action in September, Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets.  Prospect ranking outlets have Adell as a consensus top-four minor leaguer in the sport, though preseason ankle and hamstring injuries kept him from making his 2019 debut until May 24, and he has only a modest .233/.303/.317 slash line over 67 plate appearances in his first stint at Triple-A.  As a result, the Angels look to give Adell more seasoning and some time at winter ball before looking to promote him to the majors.  It has been widely speculated that Adell could be an everyday member of the Halos’ outfield as early as Opening Day 2020, as Kole Calhoun is a free agent this offseason.

Angels Outright J.C. Ramirez To Triple-A

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The Angels have outrighted right-hander J.C. Ramirez off their 40-man roster and down to Triple-A, the team announced.  As Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group notes, Ramirez has the option of rejecting the outright assignment in order to instead become a free agent.  Left-hander Adalberto Mejia has also been activated off the team’s restricted list.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2018, Ramirez made his return to the Major League mound on July 31, and the righty has a 4.50 ERA over eight innings of relief work.  Of particular note was Ramirez’s 91mph average fastball velocity, a notable step down from his 95.5mph average over the course of his career, though it isn’t unusual for pitchers to gradually build up velocity after any long absence (especially in the aftermath of a major arm procedure).

The 30-year-old has already logged 41 1/3 minor league innings this season as part of his rehab work, and he’ll now head back to Triple-A unless he chooses to become a free agent.  He could decide to simply remain in a familiar organization while he gets back to full health, unless Ramirez feels he’s ready for MLB action and opts to seek out a chance on another club’s 25-man roster.  As evidenced by the outright, Ramirez is out of options, meaning that a new team would either have to keep him on their active roster or else expose him to waivers again in order to outright him to the minor leagues.

Angels Could Remain In Current Lease; Decision Expected By Year's End

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After opting out of their stadium lease last October, the Angels agreed to a one-year lease extension with the city of Anaheim back in January. However, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times reports that the extension doesn’t mean the team’s lease now expires after the 2020 season. Rather, the January agreement was merely an extension of the opt-out agreement — effectively delaying the team’s final say on whether it’ll opt out at all or remain in its current lease with Angel Stadium, which runs through 2020. The Angels have explored the possibility of building new stadium in Long Beach and in Anaheim, but a third option would simply be to remain in their current park through the end of their current lease in 2029. Angels ownership will have until Dec. 31 to ultimately make that call; Shaikin suggests that any agreement on a Long Beach development would require the renegotiation of a short-term lease in the current facility while the new structure is built.

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